George Osborne briefed the Cabinet this morning on tomorrow’s Autumn Statement, giving ministers some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that he is launching £5 billion of extra capital spending spread over three years as part of the fiscally neutral package tomorrow. That package will fund new schools, science and transport schemes, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said this morning. He told journalists:
‘The Chancellor and the Chief Secretary have told Cabinet that they will announce at Autumn Statement over £5bn of capital investment to invest in the economy and equip Britain for the global race.’
But the bad news is that this money has to come from somewhere, and Osborne is funding it with a spending squeeze on Whitehall departments, which will be expected to save an extra 1 per cent next year, and then 2 per cent the year after. Significantly, the Health Department will be one that will be unaffected by these cuts.
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